Chicago to Waterloo

What the Data Says About ORD to ALO

The Chicago to Waterloo corridor (ORD → ALO) covers roughly 234 miles and is served by 1 carrier, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,988 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 66.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,331 flights were recorded on this pairing — 39 cancelled (2.9%) and 7 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 1 carrier on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,988 total flights analyzed, the 86.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 66.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Dec 2021 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 34-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the ORD to ALO route, the combination of a 86.3% on-time rate, 66.1-minute average delay, 2.9% recent cancellation rate, and 1 available carrier is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.